==Protection in Winter==.--Various plans are adopted for the protection of
Broccoli during winter. Much is to be said in favour of leaving them to
the risk of all events, for certain it is that finer heads are obtained
from undisturbed plants than by any interference with them, provided
they escape the assaults of winter frost. But in such a matter it is
wise to be guided by the light of experience. In cold districts, and on
wet soils where Broccoli do not winter well, heeling over may be
adopted. There are several ways of accomplishing the task, the most
successful method being managed thus. Open a trench at the northern end,
and gently push over each plant in the first row so that the heads
incline to the north. Put a little mould over each stem to settle it,
but do not earth it up any more than is needful to render it secure.
Push over the next row, and the next, and so on, finishing off between
them neatly and leaving the plants nearly as they were before, save that
they now all look northward, and their sloping stems are a little
deeper in the earth than they were in the first instance. This should
be done during fine weather in November, and if the plants flag a little
they should have one good watering at the roots. In the course of about
ten days it will be scarcely perceptible that they have been operated
on. They may be lifted and replanted with their heads to the north, but
this is apt to check them too much. In exceptionally cold seasons cover
the plot with straw or bracken, but this must be removed in wet weather.
When it is seen that the heads are forming and hard weather is
apprehended, some growers take them up with good balls of earth and
plant them in a frame, or even pack them neatly in a cellar, and the
heads finish fairly well, but not so well as undisturbed plants. It is
impossible, however, to cut good heads in a very severe winter without
some such protective measures. In many gardens glass is employed for
protecting Winter Broccoli, in which case the plantations are so shaped
that the frames will be easily adapted to them without any disturbance